


Today I Feel Like Icarus

by MythologyPastry



Series: Hanahaki: Overwatch [2]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Affection, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Angst and Feels, Bittersweet Ending, Blackwatch Era, Emotional Hurt, F/F, F/M, Hanahaki Disease, Heavy Angst, Human Experimentation, Memory Alteration, Oasis (Overwatch), One-Sided Attraction, Post-Fall of Overwatch, Unrequited Love, hanahaki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 05:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12810285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythologyPastry/pseuds/MythologyPastry
Summary: Moira doesn't know what to make of herself when it comes to Ms. Ziegler.





	Today I Feel Like Icarus

It's the second time she's strapped down for this surgery, and the irrational panic reminds Moira why people pray. This is why humanity fights and dies. This feeling of not being in control, of not knowing what will happen. Angela is across the room, prepping her tools, and she says, "It would be better if you just told them, you know. There's no shame in doing so." The blonde turns around, her smile cutting right into Moira's heart and lungs, just like the carnations growing in her chest. They're yellow to be exact, just the right hue to match the healing from Angela's caduceus. They represent disappointment and rejection. She doesn't consider herself a superstitious woman, but this is the exception.  
  
"I cannot and will not." Because ever since she met the Swiss woman, all she's thought of is her clever wit, her eyes, her intelligence. This isn't some random stranger, but an angel in the flesh. Moira has done everything in her power to get Angela out of her head. She joined Blackwatch and personally avoided Zürich whenever possible. Besides, if Angela knew how Moira corrupted her biotic technology, they would never talk again. She has to keep her at arms reach. Her research depends on it.  
  
She taps her nails on the sheets impatiently. They've started to grow longer and longer ever since she started to experiment with cellular division. At this rate, they wouldn't be worth cutting if they'd grow back in the matter of a few days.  
  
"Alright," Angela says with the same smile. She gestures to her assistant to start the anesthetic. "I'm going to make sure you're better than ever."  
  
Moira nods, already feeling the effects kick in. Right before she's knocked out, she hears Angela make one last remark. "And if I have anything to say about it, these flowers won't ever be coming back."  
  
Huh, wasn't that what the first surgery was for?

 

* * *

 

 

It's Halloween, and that witch costume is delightful. Moira doesn't feel attraction for others often, but the sight of Angela prattling off the Hippocratic Oath in it makes her heart flutter... And, it seems it makes Genji's flutter as well.

 

"That's impressive," he says affectionately, and Angela laughs. The two of them are close, and just when she thought it couldn't get worse, Angela puts her hand on his shoulder. She pulls herself towards him and murmurs something in his ear. It makes Moira sick. She finds the nearest doors and spends the night in her lab. She shouldn't have come.

 

Her couch easily becomes a bed with a spare blanket, and she lets herself sleep off the disappointment. Sometime in the night, she isn't sure when, she's woken up by bright lights and giggles. She opens her eyes only to shut them again.

 

Angela and Genji. Genji and Angela.

 

"Oh Moira! I'm so sorry." And she means it. Moira can hear that she means it. But the frustration isn't from what Angela expects, and that knowledge hurts worse. "I would have never came in here if I had known you were here." A hand on her shoulder. "Honestly, how disrespectful of me. This is your lab!"

 

She opens her eyes and lets herself smirk. It isn't natural, and it sort of hurts, but it does the job. Angela calms down at the familiar expression. They know each other too well. "Next time," Moira murmurs quietly. "Think with your head, not your heart. That'll get you killed one day. I know it's your weakness."

 

Angela smiles. "But I have you and Genji looking out for me."

 

And with that sentence, Moira's heart breaks, and she struggles to keep in the petals. Third times the charm has never been true. It's superstition, but that look in Angela's eyes makes her hope. She tugs the younger woman close, and, on careful consideration, gives her a hug. This will be enough. It must be enough. "If someone got to you, all of those experiments would have been for nothing."

 

A giggle. Perfect.

 

* * *

 

 

She outsources her surgery this time and goes back home. Ireland, for all its faults, has never hurt her as much as Zürich. The surgeon is a friend of her mother, and she groans at the time spent recalling memories. Once he starts on her for not coming home for Easter, she politely reminds him that, yes, her lungs are still being crushed. He apologizes and starts the anesthetic.

 

"Grand," she mutters.

 

If only she could do the surgery herself. The only other person she fully trusts with it is Angela, but Overwatch is gone. There will be no more visits to Zürich, nor will there be an excuse to see the blonde. Knowing her and her soft heart, she'll be out in the field, risking herself for others. Moira can't look out for her anymore. Let Genji do it. He has nothing better to do.

 

Moira has her research. That, now, is her only passion in life.

 

* * *

 

 

She watches Reaper and Widowmaker as the two plan their next mission. They need her assistance, and so she goes with, masked and cautious. She's never been in Miami before, but the other two walk through the alleys with confidence. Do they know? Would they want to know?

 

And when the action goes wrong, and Widowmaker's hand is crushed, Reaper stills. Even if he doesn't know, Moira knows. He still loves her. It's hilarious at this point, really. They're both permanently altered by her technology, yet his heart is still the same. Still egotistical and sadistic. Still in love with a woman who will never love him back. It's funnier days later when Moira's stepping off a plane into Oasis and realizes she is just like him. They both loved younger women who flew too close to the sun. Amélie lost her wings while Angela continued to soar.

 

Moira doesn't understand why that still hurts.

 

* * *

 

 

"We have a client for you, a former Blackwatch operative." Moira stops, turning to face her Oasis assistant. The man is possessed by something she knows too well. Fear. "He cannot get in touch with your colleague, Angela Ziegler. He needs your help."

 

She ponders it as she goes through her files. It must be Genji, has to be. Since Overwatch collapsed, no one else from Blackwatch has kept such close contact with Ziegler. If he's here, he could tell Angela about Moira's personal work. The other woman is smart. She'd connect the dots quickly. There's no other reason for her assistant to be as scared as he is. Genji must have held a sword to his neck and demanded Moira see him.

 

"Tell him I'd love to help, and that he's welcome to join me."

 

It only takes thirty seconds from her last syllable for Genji Shimada to walk through her lab doors. Moira knows exactly. She counted on it. It took five seconds to reach her computer, twenty for her to find the file she needed. The last five were enough for the papers to start to print, and she points to it with one long fingernail. "Those documents might tell you where Angela is. It's our shared records concerning data after Overwatch fell. Most of it is personal updates, so I hope you find what you're looking for." She swivels back to her desktop, grateful that she has her experimental files on Reaper sealed away behind lock and key. Of all the things that Genji could see, those would be the worst. Moira would lose her position at Oasis on Angela's demand. After all, she manipulated work based in peace and created a monster.

 

Sometimes, Moira thinks Angela's revenge would be well deserved.

 

Genji thanks her quietly, sincerely, before leaving. She sighs. That was more stressful than it had to be.

 

* * *

 

 

If Gabriel Reyes knew what she did to Amélie for her to become Widowmaker, Moira would be dead. Luckily for her, Reaper seems to like Widowmaker just the way she is.

 

Moira ignores Sombra's pointed questions. She won't say anything, not if it risks Reaper remembering exactly what had happened prior to his surgery. She knows exactly what she's created and exactly what he'd do to her. Besides, Moira keeps another secret from that man. There was never any fault in his surgery, but there was curiosity. Luckily, there were never any files on what she gave Gabriel Reyes that day. What made him Reaper is never going to be privy to any hacker. She created that serum alongside Angela Ziegler in Zürich. It's theirs, and only theirs.

 

She repeats it to herself and notices the mistake right away. It isn't their serum.

 

It's hers, and only hers.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! This is probably my last in this little series. I read every comment, so don't be afraid to share!


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